The Sun. — London, England, 1864-07-05 00:00:00

next day by Lord Cowley, representing the opinions of the French Government. He said—" As to the Four Powers impressing upon the Diet the heavy responsibility that it would incur, if by any precipitate measures it should break the peace before the Conference which had been proposed by the British Government for considering the means of settling the question between Germany and Denmark, and thereby maintaining the peace, can be assembled. M. Drouyn de Lhuys observed, that he had not forgotten that when Russia had been warned by France, Great Britain, and Austria, of the responsibility she was incurring by her conduct towards Poland, Prince Gortschakoff bad replied that 'Russia was ready to assume that responsibility before God and man.' He, for one, did not wish to provoke ano ther answer of the same sort, to be received with the same indifference." The interest of the drama ceepens. The next day Lcrd Russell writes to Lord Cowley, and pro poses concert and cos 'operation with France. Lord Cow ley writes the next day to Lord Russell that the French Government want to know what "concert and co-opera tion" mean. Lord Russell writes that "concert and co operation.' mean, if necessary, material assistance to Den mark. (Opposition ironical cheers.) That must have been about the same time that the Cabinet was sitting to draw up her Majesty's speech, and when we were being assured that negotiations were continued in the in terests of peace. (Renewed. Opposition cheers and laughter.) Now what was the answer of the French Government, when at last England had invited Franca to go to war, in order to settle the questions between Germany and Denmark ? The right hon. gentleman then read a despatch from Lord Cowley to Earl Russell, eetting forth that while the French Emperor recognised the value of the London treaty, a war with Germany was the most burdensome and hazardous that France could undertake, especially when he (the Em peror) remembered that he was an object of mistrust and suspicion to Europe, on account of his supposed projects re lative to the Rhine. For these reasons the Government of the Emperor declined to make any engagement on the sub ject of Denmark. Well, after having received that despatch —although it may be very hard to convince the Secretary of State—the noble lord might have begun to suspect chat the great influence of England was lowered in another quarter of Europe. (Hear, hear.) I have now brought events down to the point of the meeting of Parliament—but I will not dwell on what then occurred. When we met there were no papers before us. I asked for papers, and I telt at the time that on neither side of the house was there a sufficient sense of the great importance of the occasion, and of the singular circumstance that papers h.ad not been presented to us. I remember it turned out afterwards that it never was intended that papers should be presented at the meeting of Parliament. Subsequently, however, the noble lord at the head of the Government, treating the matter in his jaunty manner, said, "You shall have papers, and I wish you joy of them." That was the tone in which the First Minister spoke of the most important diplomatic correspondence that has been presented to Parliament since the treaty of Amiens. Weeks and weeks elapsed before we wore really masters of the case; but during the interval most alarming and distres sing circumstances had occurred--circumstances involving the greatest perplexities. You all remember Jutland ; you all remember the inquiries made on the subject, and the as surances given by the Government. It was impossible for us to act, because at that time we had not these papers be fore us, and the moment we had the Conference was an nounced. Now, one word about the Conference. I myself had no hope that the Conference would arrive at any advan tageous results; and, after reading these papers, I cannot fail to perceive that no side wished for a settlement of the question—except, of course, her Majesty's Government. (Laughter.) The Conference lasted six weeks, or rather it wasted six weeks, It lasted as long as a carnival, and, like a carnival, it was an affair of masks and mystifiewions. (Laughter and cheers.) The summary of the Conference was this—Her Majesty's Government made considerable proposals to the Conference. They proposed, first, the dis memberment of Danmark. (Opposition cheers.) So much for its integrity. (Continued cheering.) They proposed, secondly, that the remainder of Denmark should be placed under the joint guarantee of the great Powers. They would have created another Turkey in Europe—the scene of the same rival intrigues and the constant source of misappre hension and frequent wars. Now, I ask the house what is its opinion with respect to the management of these affairs ? I have shown at the beginning that this interference of England originated in a treaty in which we incurred no obligations different from those of France. I have shown you, upon the evidence of the Secretary of State himself, that the position of France in regard to Denmark is one quite magnanimous and free from all perplexities. I have shown you, on the other hand, that the position of England is most embarrassing, intolerably difficult, and full of humi liation. (Cheers.) . I have narrated to you how your affairs are managed—and now, what is your opinion ? Do you see in the management of these affairs that capacity which is adequate to the occasion—that sagacity, that prudence, that dexterity, that quickness of perception, and those con ciliatory moods which you always hold to be necessary for the transaction of your foreign affairs ? (Cheers.) Is that the knowledge of human nature, and especially that pecu liar kind of science most necessary in these affai's—a know ledge of the character of foreign countries and of the chief actors on the scene ? For my own part I find all these qua lities wanting, and in consequence I see that three results have accrued—let, that the avowed policy of England has failed; 2d, that our great influence in the councils of Europe has been lowered—(cheers)—and 3d, that in con sequence of our great influence in the councils of Europe being lowered, the securities for peace are diminished. These are the three consequences which have oc curred owing to the want of qualities to which I have alluded and in consequence of the management of these affairs by the Governmsnt. I need not trouble the house with addi tional argument to prove that the Government have failed in accomplishing their avowed policy of upholding the in dependence and integrity of Denmark. (Hear, hear.) That result may for the present be thrown aside. I come, there• fore, to the second. By the just influence of England in the councils of Europe I mean an influence contradistin guished from that which is obtained by intrigue and secret understandings—l mean the influence that results from the conviction of foreign Powers that our resources are great and that our policy is moderate and stedfast. (Hear.) Since the settlement that followed the great revolutionary war England,who obtained at that time, as she deserved to do— for she bore the brunt of the struggle—all the fair objects of her ambition, England has upon the whole proceeded on a Conservative foreign policy, Ido not mean by a Conser vative foreign policy a policy that would disapprove, still less oppose, the natural development of nations, but I mean a foreign policy that is interested in the tranquillity and the prosperity of the world, whose normal condition is peace— (cheers)—and which does not ally itself with the revolu tionary party of Europe, (Hear, hear.) Other countries have their political systems and their public objects, as England has, though they may not be obtained by them The position of England is, therefore, in the conduct o public affairs and in the councils of Europe, essentially that of a moderating and mediational Power. Her interest and her policy are, when changes are inevitable and necessary, to assist, so that these changes, if possible, shall be ace, m plished without war, or, if war occurs, that its duration and its asperity shall he mitigated. That is what I mean by the just influence of England. It appears to me that this just influence of Europe has been—l will not say forfeited, but has been dimini-loe 1. Within 12mcnths we have been twice repulsed at St. Petersburg ; we have supplicated more than once at Paris ; we have menaced Austria, and Austria has allowed our threats to pass over like the wind. (Hear, hear.) We have threatened In ussia ; Prussia has defied us. Our ob jurgat ions have rattled over the heads of the German Diet. and the German Diet has treated them with contempt, During the last few months there is scarcely any form i.r diplomatic interference that has not peen suggested and adopted by the English Government, except a Congress, (Laughter.) A Conference of Vienna, a Conference of Paris, a Conference of London, all in their turn have been suggested. Joint mediation, sole mediation, original notes, relative notes, ieentic notes, sole notes, or notes joint and separate. (Laughter.) Couriers have been securing Europe in exuberant rapidity ; and last, and most of all, a Conference was held in the Cabinet of our Queen, over which the chief Minister of our foreign relations presided, which was attended with all the pomp and solem nity requisite for so great , an enterprise ; but we find that its sitti ngs have been perfectly barren, and the chief Mini sters of the Crown closed the proceedings by quitting the battle 'scene of their exertions, and appearing in the two Hawes of Parliament to tell the country we have no allies, and bee, we have no allies England cannot act alone (Loud cheers by the Conservatives.) Ido not undertake to do justice to the exulting boast of the Secretary of State, in the bitterest moment of his discomfiture, when he seemed to take consolation for the moment even in the sympathy and politeness of the neutral Powers. Ido not grudge Lord Russell the sighs of Russia or the smiles of France ; but I regret that, with the characreristic indiscretion in his present forlorn state, ' be should have quitted the Confer ence, and to have taken his neat in the House of Lords to denounce the perfidy of p - " 1184 and to mourn over the fickleness of Austria. There wanted bat one touch to com plete the picture, and it was supplied by the noble lord the First Minister of the Crown. I listened with'ustonishment —(loud cheers by the Conservatives) _ I listened with astonishment to the noble lord as he denotuiced the vices of his victim, and inveighed at the last moment over the obstinacy of unhappy Denmark ; Denmark which would not submit to an arbitration, an arbitration which the German Powers would not have accepted. And what ecurity had Denmark, when in the Conference she could not be assured that the neutral Powers • would have recourse to force to secure her the line of the Schlei—what security had she that any other lin e would be secured to her by an unknown arbitrator? (Hear, hear.) It deer appear to me impossible to deny that, under these circumstances, the influence of England, the just influence of England in the councils of Europe, is lowered. (Cheers.) Now I ask, what are the consequences of this just influence in the councils of Europe having been lowered? I say the consequences are, to use a frequent phrase of despatches, " most serious," because, in exact pro- portion as the just influence of England in the councils of Europe is lowered, I say the securities of peace are dini- nished. (Hear, hear.) I lay this down as a great principle which cannot be controverted, in the management of our foreign affairs. If England has resllved on a particular policy, war is not probable; if there be, under the circum stAnceo, a cordial alliance between England and France, war TEIL SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JULY 5, 1864. is moat difficult ; and if there he a thorough understanding 1 the immaterial and irrelevant portions of those despatches, between England, France, and Russia, I say war is impose refers to the mortification which France felt on account of Bible. (Conservative cheers) These were the py con- the refusal of the joint application of the three Powers by ditions under which her Majesty's Ministers e d upon Russia, and he fairly quoted the resolution of France--a re this matter, and which they enjoyed when t y began to solution at which none can wonder and none can bomplain manage this question of Denmark. (Hear:) o years ago, —to avoid repeating a diplomatic measure of the same cha and much less, there was a cordial under e. ;nt; between racter as that which had exposed her to the refusal of Rus- England, France, and Russia upon that cha -I ion, or upon sia. But the right hon. gentleman gave the house to under any question that might arise. They might look forward stand, or left it to be inferred, that the meaning of the de to the future with every confidence in the enjoyment claration on the part of France was this—" Do not look for of peace. (Hear, hear). They might look forward any more co-operation from me with respect to Denmark— to a period when they would have accomplished all they our policy is changed; but if you had stood by us in the could have desired for the public good. But what has hap- case of Poland, I would have stood by you in that of Den pened ? They t have alienated Russia, they have estranged mark. Inasmuch, however, as you abandoned me in respect France, and then they call Parliament together to declare to Poland, I will leave you to conduct your own affairs in war against Germany. (Cheers.) Why, such a thing reference to Denmark." (Cheers.) Sir, I will give again the never happened before in the history of this country ; nay, very words of the despatch referred to by the right hon: more, I say never can happen again. I look upon it as one gentleman, and you will see whether the words of Mr Grey of those portentous occurrences that sometimes take place were not very definite, and whether they did not bear an to humiliate the pride of nations, and to lower their confi- interpretation the most remote from that given by the right deuce. (Loud cheers.) As difficulties increased—as ob- hon. gentleman. The words were written at the time that stacks before them mounted—as they were multiplied, as ahe says France was adopting a policy of inaction in refer consequence of their perpetual errors and constant mis- once to Denmark. What were the words of M. Drouyn de takes—yet more piteously have they exhibited themselves. Lhuys ?—" France may not (his excellency said) be inaiffe- You always find that her Majesty's Ministers are near war. rent by any means to the maintenance of the integrity and As in private life you always dud that it is the weak who independence of Denmark, and it was not from any indiffe are 'violent, so it is with her Majesty's Government. So rence that he disapproved of your lordship's suggestion; long as the cordial feeling with the great Powers existed that he had already represented to the German Powers that they spoke et ith moderation—they counselled with dignity ;if they invaded Holstein for the purpose of effecting a revolt but, like all incompetent men, the moment they are in in Schleswig, and if they went further and invaded Schleswig extreme difficulties they conduct themselves in a way that itself, they would be infringing on the rights of an inde is ludicrous and false, and the affairs of the country cannot pendent sovereign, and entering upon a grave question be arranged by the resources they possess. See the de- affecting the balance of power in Europe, to which France spatches that have been written—that memorable despatch could not remain indifferent." (Applause.) And is it not which was sent to St. Petersburg in January about going the fact that all these expressions, when they came from the to war against Germany. Then we went twice to Paris, pen of my noble friend the Secretary of State for Foreign entreating the Emperor to assist us in consequence of our Affairs, are treated as menaces, which are to bind us to go mistakes. It is only by giving them credit, as Ido through- to war; but that, when they proceed from the mouth of the out, for complete sincerity of expressions and conduct, that French Minister for Foreign Affairs, at the very moment the behaviour of the Government is at all explicable. As- when, as the right hon. gentleman says, France was re sume that their policy has a war policy, and it is quite in- nouncing all co-operation with us, with regard to the telligible, but when difficulties arise, then they instantly Danish question, they are not considered in that light at have recourse to violence in every word they utter. Every all ? (Cheers.) The right hon, gentleman went on from despatch they write seems to look to a scene of collision. the September stage to the November stage in these cam- What is the state of Europe at this moment, produced by plicated proceedings, and he referred to the discourteous the mismanagement of our affairs ? I know not what other terms in which the noble lord the Secretary for Foreign hon gentlemen may think. but to me it seems most serious. Affairs treated the proposal of the Emperor of the French I find the great German Powers openly avowing that they for the assembling of an European Congress. My noble have not the capacity to fulfil their engagements. I fled friend is a man of truth and honour, given to speak out with Europe impotent to vindicate the public law, because a great as little of circumlocution as circumstances would permit, alliance has been broken up; and I find a Government of a (Laughter, and hear, hear.) But what course did the right great, proud, and generous nation like England, with the honourable gentleman himself pursue ? Did he pursue reserve of magnanimity, shrinking from the responsibility a course calculated to mend our manners ? How did he of undertaking war, and sensitively smarting under the im- describe the proposal made by the Emperor of the pression that her honour is stained, and stained by pledges French ? On the 4th of February, 1864, this master which I maintain ought not to have been given, and expec• of diplomatic courtesy—this statesman so careful tations which I maintain ought never to have been held out of the fine feelings of our neighbour, so sensible of the value by wise and competent statesmen. (Cheers.) It appears to of the alliance between the two countries—somewhat curtly me, therefore, obvious that her Majesty's Government have and somewhat succinctly, as I venture to think, described failed in their avowed policy to maintain the integrity and the proposition which had been made by the Emperor of the independence of Denmark. It appears to me undeniable that French for an European Congress as an " adroit manoeuvre.' the great influence of England in the councils of Europe (Oh, oh, and loud cheers.) I refer to this matter in order has been lowered, and it appears to me that the consequence that I may meet the inferences which the right hon. gen of this lowering of our influence is to diminish the security tleman proceeded to found on our refusal to join in the Con for the maintenance of peace, (Cheers.) And what defence gress, just as he found baseless inferences on our proceed have we ? If a criticism is made on his ambiguous policy, ings in regard to Poland. He stated that we had refused the noble lord says to me, " What is your policy ?" the Congress in a manner that could not but be exceedingly (Ministerial cheers and counter-cheers.) I say my disapproved of. lie said that France, on the death of the policy is the honour of England. (Laughter and King of Denmark, resolved to take no part in the question, cheers.) The honour of England and the peace of and he quoted a despatch, dated December 19, from Lord Europe—and the noble lord has betrayed both. (Conner- Wodehouse to Earl Russell, in which he says General vative cheers.) I can understand a Minister coming to Fleury, the envoy at Copenhagen, had had instructions Parliament when there is a question of domestic interest from the Emperor not to take part in any negotiations there, of the highest character—the emancipation of the Catholics, but to tell the Danish Government explicitly that, if Den the principle on which our commercial code is to be esta- mark was inclined to go to war with Germany, France would blished, or our representative system founded. I can under- not come to her assistance. lam astonished that the hon. stand a Minister, though I think it a weak point, saying gentleman, bewildered, I suppose, with the study of these upon these questions he would leave Parliament to decide fitteeen hundred pages —most anxious, because his what should be their policy. Parliament is in possession of candour is well known to the world, and giving the all the information on these subjects that is necessary or fullest powe s of his mind to these papers—yet by that can he obtained. Parliament is as competent to come some unlucky fate, some ill-natured star that crossed to judgment as the Ministers themselves upon such ques- his good intentions, has almost in every case— times. But it is quite a new doctrine in Parliament to ap- and I will make good what lam now stating—has mime peal to Parliament to initiate a foreign policy. (Cheers.) represented the real effect of those papers even which he has That is a prerogative of the Crown, exercised under the quoted. What did he say in this instance with respect to advice of responsible Ministers, It is devised, invented, General Fleury ? It is true we received this statement carried on in seeresy, and justly and wisely so. What do from Copenhagen, and on receiving it we determined to we know what is going on in Downing-street at this mo- verify it by referring to Paris. Accordingly, we referred it meat ? For aught I know, the noble lord may have made to Lord Cowley, who returned from M. Drouyn de Lhuys, this morning another proposition which may light up a with this important addition—for the right hon. gentleman general European war. (Hear, hear.) It is for Parliament says France had definitely refused to take any part, in the to inquire, to criticise, to support or condemn our foreign question—M. Drouyn de Lhuys stated positively that no affairs, but it is not for them to initiate a foreign policy, in declaration had been made either by or to the King of Dan absolute ignorance of the real state of affairs. As well might mark which did not leave the Emperor free to take any you ask them to set a house on fire. Igo further. He course which he might think fit. (Cheers and counter is not a wise, lam sure he is not a patriotic man, who, in a cheers.) Do hon. gentlemen opposite really mean that that crisis like the present, would accept office under conditions is not a material part of the statement ? (Cheers.) Is that which might be found not only unwise but impossible to a policy of absolute renunciation. It was a very wise act upon. No, sir, we must not allow her Majesty's Mi- course on the part of the Emperor of the French, and it ' nisters to escape from their responsibility. (Cheers.) That might have been wise and prudent on his part that he is the meaning —that is at the bottom of all these demands would not lend to Denmark his military support ; but that of what is your policy. From the first night we met, on the is not the policy which was enunciated by the right hon. 4th of February, that has been the question, Parliament gentleman, and it is totally different from the effect of the was called together by Ministers in distress to give them a statement of General Fleury quoted by the right honour • policy. Parliament has maintained a dignified and discreet able gentleman, because it is expressly stated that reserve, and now you find in what a position these Minis- the Emperor of the French fully reserved to himself the ters have placed the country. It is not for us to help these right to enter into the Danish question as freely and as Ministers in their foreign relations. The most we can do is fully as he should think fit, (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I to tell the noble lord what is not our policy. We will not now come a step further is the statement of the right hon, threaten and then refuse to act; we will not lead on our gentleman, which I think contains an important point. The allies with expectations we do not intend to fulfil. If it right hon. gentleman says, that in all cases where the Go ever be the lot of myself and those with whom I act to vernment found themselves strong they were moderate in carry out the important negotiations of this country, as the their lau;uage, but when they found themselves weak they noble lord and his colleagues have done, I trust we shall became violent; and en that principle he accounts for the not at least carry them on in such a manner as it will be letter written on Dec. 2.5, fur the purpose, he says, of me our duty to come to Parliament and announce that we have /ening the Diet in case they proceeded to Federal execution. no ally, and then to declare that England can never act alone. Her. again lam sorry to say that the right hon. gentleman (Cheers.) These are words which ought never to have es- has not quoted the document fairly or truly. lam in the re caped the lips of any British Minister, (Cheers.) They collection of the house, and in the presence of the right hon. are sentiments which ought never to have entered his heart, gentleman. In quoting the letter of Dec. 25, which he de (Cheers.) I repudiate and reject them. (Cheers.) I re- scribes as one of great violence, he makes a mistake in one member that there was a time when England had not a tithe sentence of considerable importance. He says my noble of our resources, when, actuated by a patriotic course, she friend menaces the Diet in case of their proceeding to Fede triumphantly encountered a world in arms. (Cheers) And, ral execution. He read the words generally and commented sir, I believe now, if the occasion were fitting—if our inde- upon them. He read the wcrds "any precipitate act on on pendence and our honour were attacked and assailed—it our the part of the German Confederation at the present moment empire were endangered—l believe England would rise in may lead to consequences fatal to the peace of Europe." the magnificence of her might, and struggle triumphantly (Hear, hear.) But what is the preamble to that letter? for those objects for which men live and nations flourish. Why, sir, it is not with respect to Federal execution at all— (Loud cheers.) But, air, I for one will never consent to go it does not once mention Federal execution, nor has in any to war to extricate Ministers from the consequences of their reference to it, which was the inference sought to be con own indiscretion. And it is in this spirit that I have drawn veyed by the right hon. gentleman. But what was the pre up this address to the Crown. I lenve drawn it up in the amble to which I have referred ? The Diet sitting at Frank spirit in which the Royal speech was delivered at the corn- fort appears to claim a right to decide on questions of sue. mtncement of the session. I am ready to vindicate the cession in the several States composing the Confederation, honour of this country when it is necessary, but I have and to be bent on asserting such a right in the present case drawn it up in the interests of peace. (Cheers.) Sir, I beg —the case of Holstein. Therefore, Ido not hesitate to say leave to move the address which stands in my name. (Loud chat the quotation cf the right hon. gentleman does not cheers from the Opposition.) give him a tittle of foundation for his argument. The The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, who rose question has no reference to Federal execution, but it had amidst lend cheers, said—Sir, I will venture to assure the to the claim of deciding as to succession, which had been right hon. gentleman that he shall have no ground to corn- more or less made at different periods by the German plain of any attempt on the part of her Majesty's Govern- Diet, but which were not admitted to be part of their regu went to disguise or to escape from their responsibilities. tar attributes and jurisdiction, Does any hon. gentleman (Hear, hear.) Whether, indeed, he has rightly discharged imagine that the claim of the German Diet to determine the duties of an Opposition—whether he has successfully the succession of Austria or Prussia would be allowed for vindicated the large motion he submits to the house—is a one moment? Bat it was to this significant claim of the matter, I think, fairly op e n to inquiry; but as I admit German States, and not to Federal execution, that the honestly and fairly that his charges against the Government letter referred which was quoted by the right hon. gentle are bold and palpable, the first demand is that we should man, and quoted, I may say, in a manner which entirely offer a defence. Therefore I make no apology to gentlemen tahifies its purpose and effect. (Oh, oh, from the Opposie who have placed amendments on the paper, although I can tion benches.) I say he quoted it for the purpose of illus well understand that the hon. member for Bridgewater (Mr Crating our menaces against Federal execution ; and I speak Kingleke) and the hon. member for Warwickshire (Mr in the pretence of hon. members who can judge of the words Newdegate) should, in the interests of England, substitute of the right hon. gentleman and the inference which was questions which really do involve a policy for a motion sought to be conveyed by the quotation. I now come to which involves none. (Hear.) At the same time it is our the despatch quoted by the right hon. gentleman, and here duty, while wholly refraining from any attempt to check again lam sorry to say I cannot speak of his quotation in free discussion, to meet the accusations which he has any other terms than those which I have already used. (Oh, lavished upon the conduct of her AL jesty's Government oh, and hear.) I come to what I may call the lugubrious Now, sir, it is as NI ell to have something to agree on, and despatch of Dec. 29. The house will remember that in I ant glad to find there is a starting-point which the right quoting the despatch the right hon. gentleman resorted to hon. gentleman and her Majesty's Government possess in the fullest use of his comic powers of description—(loud common—l mean the startineepoint concerning the pro- laughter, and oh)—of voice and of warning. We all re ceedings of last summer and early autumn, and the decla- member the plaintive tones with which he described her ration made by my noble friend at the head of the Govern- Majesty's Government as addressing itself to France. Her ment in the month of July, as being an authoritative an- Majesty's Government, he said, were most sincerely desir neuncement by my noble friend of his own opinion that the ous to act with the Imperial Government on this question. Treaty of 1852, entered into for the purpose of maintaining This letter referred to the proposal made by the British the independence and integrity of Denmark, would receive Government for a Conference on the Danish question; and that support from united Europe under which it had origi- the right hon. gentleman read on, and said that when M. nally teen framed. I agree likewise he has fairly proved Drouyn de Lhuys expressed a general desire to co-operate that my noble friend, in giving that opinion with respect to with England Lord Cowley remarked that it would be a the probable conduct, the anticipated conduct, of the other curious thing if a difference of opinion prevented co-opera- Powers, par ties to that treaty, likewise implied the readi. tion, and that no answer was made. He said that he had ness of the Ministry of which he was the head to take their made an application to France to join us in a European part in it. (Hear, hear.) The hon. gentleman has likewise Conference on the affairs of Denmark, to which Lord Cowley stated, and fairly stated, that at that period France and could not get an answer from M, Drouyn de Lhuys; and Russia were of the same mind. Up to that simple point that, finding that he could not obtain an answer, he felt the right hon. gentleman and the Government are agreed, himself bound to wind up the conversation with the ex and I now set on a long and dreary journey of dissent. The pression of a hope that the difference of the opinion about right hon. gentleman says, in the month of September, the Congress in reference to Poland would not prevent co there was a total change in the policy of France. Ido not operation with regard to the affairs of Denmark. There the know that it is necessary or expedient that we should enter right hon. gentleman stopped, but what was the inference at this period upon the course taken by her Majesty's Go- he drew ? Was it not that France had rejected the proposal vtrnment with respect to the Polish question. As far as I of the Conference ? Unless it had that meaning, it had know, the Parliament of this country did not in either none at all, for the whole gist of his argument was to show house act with regard to Poland on the principle of extreme that long after France had resolved on a course of action, reserve. - a - r lf . D o f i sstitefferAiET° —Not by us only. n e On the contrary, both in the House o f L or d s and an d h a d announced it to Denmark, we went to Paris, bore the House Commons members did lift up their voices cn ing France and pestering h er w i t h proposals to which she bhumanity. (Hear, hea r .) wou ld not li sten or consent. Again I say he has misled the m h house ; and whether he ha s o r no t th e h ouse will j udge for suffering humanity. Mr. GLADS - ONE—Not in the least; but I will add itself when I have read a few words from the despatches that the most pronounced charge with respect to the which were quoted by the right hon. gentleman. In the supposed conduct of her NJ ajesty's Government in conversation of Lord Cowley and M. Drouyn de Lhuys, regard to Poland was this—that the noble lord the Secre- Lord Cowley says :—" I presume I may give them assurance tary of State for Foreign Affairs had, by his declarati o n a t that the Emperor's Government are not prepared to reject the commencement of the discussion that we would no t the motion of the conference ;" and M. Drouyn de Lhuys take up arms for Poland, entirely des trcyed and crushed the replied—" The Imperial Government are anxious to prevent hopes of the P o l es, (Hear, hear.) The r i g h t h on. gent l e . a war, and i f it saw its way to prevent it through a Con man says ther e was a change in the policy of France in the ference, it would not refuse to take part in it," (Cheers,) month of September. Was there such a change ? The right The right hon. gentleman described what he called the Em. hon. gentleman has u ndoubtedly quoted a despatch of Mr. peror's policy 0 1 renunciation. But Lord Cowley says, " I Grey to support the statement which he has made; and the have dwelled, as far as time will permit, the general tenor right hen, gentleman gracefully apologised to the house for of the conversation with M. Drouyn de ',buys, and his ex troubling it by quoting from despatches. I am more die- cellency expressed an opinion that, if your lordship should posed to complain of the sins of omission than the sins of also insist on knowing the intentions of the great German commission, (Laughter, and hear, hear.) But the right Powers, it would aid in bringing this question to an issue," hon. gentleman, while P rof es s ing W dieregArd and pass over j That is what the right hon, gentleman thought fit to de- scribe as a policy of absolute and positive renunciation and refusal. (Cheers.) Now I come to the revocation of the patent. The right hen. gentleman says the Danes revoked the patent on the recommendation, and abandoned resistance in Holstein on the recommendation of herMajesty'sGovern ment, and that they approved the new constitution when we asked them to do so. lam not here to bring an indictment against the Danes. When we recollect that the throne of Denmark is occupied by a sovereign who succeeded to it under circumstances of great difficulty, and with an inheri tance of embarrassment caused by the conduct of his prede cessor and the policy of the Ministers whom he found in power, I for one am not able to say with confidence that it was within the means of the present King of Denmark to unravel the difficulties with which he found himself beset; but at the same time I beg to say with respect to this, as well as to the other main allegations of the right hon. gen tleman, they are without the slightest foundation —(oh, oh) —and are not borne out by any of the quotations which he has made. He says that the Danes did this at our instance, My answer is that they did it at the joint instance of the Powers. He says they did it when we requested them to do so. My answer is, they were not done until the conces sion was too late, and was valueless for the purpose for which it was required. Now, let us see how the truth stands. I say, for the sake of wounding the Government, he fixes on the country responsibilities which she does not bear. Do not let it be supposed that this is a matter to be settled between party and party in the House of Commons, because England is bound by the engagements of her Ministers—(hear, hear)—and if the engagements are made by us, the right hon. gentleman, on his accession to power, would be bound to fulfil them in the sense which we attach to them. He says Denmark revoked the patent on our re commendation, and that that constituted a quasi-engage ment on our part. What is the fact ? On the 7th of October the British Government remonstrated against the patent, and advised its revocation. When was it revoked ? On the 7th of December, two months after; and not two months measured by time in the ordinary way, but by events of the greatest consequence. The new constitution had been passed, and the revocation of the patent when it came, as plainly appears from the conversation of Lord Wodehouse, was of the smallest importance. So much for the revocation of the patent. I think I heard the right hon gentleman say that M. Hall offered to revoke the patent in the month of October. I am aware that an offer was made in October to revoke it, but it was a conditional offer, for M. Hall stated that one of the conditions on which the patent would be withdrawn, would be that England and France should give the Danish Government a formal promise of ca-operation. In point of fact, the revocation was withheld during the time it was of use, and granted only when it was of the smallest possible importance. The right hon. gentleman also said that on three great subjects Denmark had also acted upon our udvcie, and that contrary to her policy. Did the right hon. gentleman mean to say that Denmark acted upon our advice alone (Hear, hear.) If he means to say that, I affirm that there is not the smallest founda tion for the statement. If he moans to say that Den mark acted at the instance of other Powers also, there is not the slightest force or value in his statement, because the concession made by Denmark was at the recommenda tion of all, and therefore there is no separate responsibi lity, as the right hon. gentleman would endeavour to show. I think it is pretty clear, first, that the advice to the Danish Government was common advice; and, secondly, that it was advice in regard to which they were dis tinctly informed that her Majesty's Government could not be responsible for the consequences of the decision Denmark might take with respect to Federal execution. It is just the same with regard to the new constitution. The right hon. gentleman says that England was selfishly silent upon the subject of the new constitution. He gave the House to understand that when good might have been done by remonstrance—England left Denmark to take her own course; and subsequently, when it became difficult for Denmark to recede, then England came with inopportune advice, and desired that the new constitution might be revoked —selfishly silent at that critical moment when the King of Denmark had just come into his too burdensome heritage, and even with this unhappy and ill omened bill waiting his decision. I think it was on Nov, 15 that he came to the throne, and on the 17th my noble friend (Earl Russell) wrote to Lord A. Paget, unwilling to force advice upon the King at that critical moment, but indicating that his advice would be that the new constitu tion should be suspended. The right hon. gentleman quoted the despatch in support of his statement, and con tinued—Unhappily that advice was not acted upon. Un happily, the position of the King, in the face of the popu lace of Copenhagen, appears to have been such as to make it impossible for him to take the course which, in the opinion of her Majesty's Government and in the opinion of the other neutral Governments, international obligations strictly interpreted required. Consequently the complica tions which existed underwentgreat and serious aggravation. Unhappily, the revocation of the constitution, like the other concession, although made, was made too late. (Cheers.) On I' ov. 17 Earl Russell suggested suspension of the con stitution ; the Danish Parliament was still sitting, and would have had power to revoke it, but unhappily the Danish Minister, who, I fear, has unintentionally been one of the worst enemies to Denmark, permitted the Parliament to be dissolved without touching the constitution, and so let the King into a state of hopeless embarrassment. At last, on Jan. 19, when Federal execution was far advanced in Holstein, and when the Prussian and Austrian forces ! were about to eater Schleswig, then it was that for the first time an offer was made by the Danish Minister, Bishop Monrad, to call together the Rigsraed, and revoke the con stitution. The statement therefore of the right hon. gen tleman is either wholly fallacious, if it be not directly the reverse of truth. These are the specific allegations made by the right hon. gentleman, and I will now, with some diffi dence and apprehension, venture to explain what I take to have been the principles and policy of the Government in this matter. The right hon, gentleman stated with truth that a considerable change was effected in the position of this question by the death of the King of Deninatk. The death of King Frederick VII. altered the position of affairs in respect to the treaty of 1852. It immediately laid the whole strain upon that treaty and upon its construction. As long as Frederick VII. was alive there was nothing but a question of international engegement. The matter in dis- pute was whether international covenant;;dbeenfUlifed or not. There was no question of disputed title; but when Frederick VII. died, and King Christian IX. came to the throne, the question of succession, connected with various constructions of the treaty, immensely aggravated the ques. tion. The policy of her Majesty's Government under Fre derick VII. had been to endeavour to bring the Danes to fulfil the treaty of 1852, "and to bring the Germans to be moderate in their views. But the right hon, gentleman ap pears to make it a charge against the present Government that they should have taken, as it were, gratuitously, and needlessly, a prominent part in the settlement of those matters. He says truly that England has no peculiar in • terest in these qu-stions, It has been said by my noble friend (Earl Russell) more than once in these despatches, that the interests of England in the Dano-German question are the interests of Europe. We can conceive that France, for traditional association, and also for her peculiar relations with Germany, might have a special and direct interest in any such questions as would be involved in the absorption of Denmark into Germany; we can conceive that Russia, principally dependent upon the Baltic for access to the great ccean countries of the world, might feel a very strong and peculiar interest in the question whether D:nmark and Sweden were to be united into one Scandinavian kingdom; but England has no special and separate interest. Why then did she take—it was certainly a Prominent—part in these negotiations ? She took part on account of what I hope w i l l ever be dearer to England than her interests,—viz•t on ac count of what she thought her honour and her duty. (Cheers.) Gentlemen must look to the previous stages of the question if they wish to appreciate the position of England during the recent complications. At the period of the war, in 1849, the mediation of Engl an d was invited by the contending parties—(hear)'origi na lly at the suggestion of Prussia, and adopted by Denmark, an d forwarded to my noble friend (Earl Russell), Who was then Sec retar y of State, and by him undert a k en. That was a great responsi bility, but was it a barren one? On the contrary, it ended in the cessation of the shedding o f human blood, being in terms of pacification, in t reaties which were deeme d b y b ot h parties honourable and sat isfactory. The rignt hon. gentle man quoted the expressions of thankful acknowledgment to Lord Palmerston from Den hrs efforts, and continued: mark for the successful result of After proceedings of that kind so beneficial to both parties, and so honourable to this coun try—(cheers) —it was not Possible for the rep resentativ e of England to reced e f rom the Prominent post in which he had been placed by no act of his own, but by the obligations re sulting from former transactions of the most satisfactory and beneficial kind. Here, I think, is a full and ample explana tion of the conduct and general position as sumed by my noble friend with regard to the Dan i sh negot i ations. (Cheers) I really wish the right hon. gentleman, in attack ing his opponents, would remember his country. (Laughter.) The right hon. gentleman says that it was to Russia that settlement was due. I have quoted the authentic words which show that my noble friend was the person who was regarded by Denmark as the principal. Upon the acces sion of the new King the duty and endeavour of the Bri tish Government was to maintain the treaty of 1852. Was that right or wrong ? that the right non. Now, is it honourable to Parliament gentlem an should come down here, and in mimic voice hold up to ridicule the conduct of the Ad ministration, because they instruct their representatives abroad to apply to France and Russia--co-signataries—for assistance in giving effect to a great treaty ? Why, the right hon. gentleman in one of his declamatory bursts towards the close of his speech, totally forgot the argumentative part where he exhibited it as preposterous meanness on the part of England that she should apply to France and Russia. In the declamatory part he came round to better sense than he exhibited in the logical and argumentative part, for he said that with England and France united war is difficult, apd with England, France, and Russia united, war is impossible. (Cheers, and counter cheers.) Well, but the whole of the steps taken by her Majesty's Government, almost without exception, were steps taken to endeavour to bind together the powers of Europe for the fulfilment and maintenance of an important European en gagement. (Cheers.) For some time after the death of the late King there was no great reason to suppose that the Treaty of 1852 was in serious danger. It was only at the end of November that the new doctrine was coined in Prus- sia and Austria that the treaty ce 1852, by nearly which all Europe was bound, was nothing more than a part ee the same transactions with the special conventions of 1851-2 between Germany and Denmark; and that unless those covenants were Waled the treaty of 1852 would be null and void. That was the formidable doctrine which at that time into view. On the 28th of November, I think it was, that language began to be held by the German Powers which greatly altered the position of the case. As long as they recognised what we have always held to be their obli• gations under the treaty of 1862 there was comparatively little danger; but when they held themselves free to mako the treaty of 1852 dependent upon the condition of fulfil ment or non-fulfilment of which they were competent to pronounce—for it was a separate engagement between them and Denmark—then it became obvious that the dangers were greatly thickening round us, and that it was a ques tion whether the treaty of 1852 would be fulfilled in its loyal end intended sense. Undoubtedly it was at that pe riod that her Majesty's Government undertook the gravest responsibility which has been laid upon them at any stage of this difficult question. They did make application to France and to Russia on the sth of January, on the 10th, and on the 18th, which applications contemplated the for• mation of an alliance to give aid and assistance to Den mark, to uphold it in the Duchies against foreign force and intrigue. The right hon. gentleman, who has found it necessary to censure everything done by the Go• vernment, felt it necessary to censure also this. He said that on the 18th of January you wrote a letter which would have put Europe in a Haze. Sir, the letter to bring about the concert and co-operation of France and Russia with England, he says, would put Europe in a blaze, though 15 minutes afterwards he maintained that Franca, England, and Russia being united, war was impossible. (Cheers and laughter.) I must say I was surprised, con sidering the disproportionate weight which the right hon. gentleman laid upon a point of trifling moment, that, when he came to this great passage of European policy, he satis fied himself with breaking out into ill-considered reproach of her Majesty's Government. We did write this letter. We believed that it was for the interes a of Europe that the treaty of 1852 should be supported. and we stand here re sponsible for having acted on that belief. (cheers) Has the right hon. gentleman an opinion on the policy, or has he not ? (Cheers.) I wish we could dive into the recesses of his mind. (Laughter.) I complain of the reserve of the right hon. gentleman. He is as bad as a miser with his money—one cannot get out of him the smallest inkling of what is to be the future policy of the country He talks a great deal of the policy of the Government, but when it touches a question of policy he will not give an opinion. (Cheers.) He has brought forward a motion which aims at giving a mortal blow to the Government. Here is by far the most important proceeding which the Government has taken, this letter of Jan. 18, the proposal fur the co-oueration in support of the treaty of 1 _852, and yet the right hon. gen tleman who asks the House of Commons to condemn the Government in the capital article of their conduct, passes this by in silence because lie cannot give an opinion with out intimating something about his policy. (Cheers.) The Government have no desire to have that passed over. Th -y thought it their duty to make those efforts to obtain co-operation for the purpose of preventing 'hat which has happened—from a treaty being set aside by external force —and they invite a verdict upon their conduct. (Cheers.) I am not here to blame the Governments who declined to concur in that proposal. I think that in the case of an engagement like the treaty of 1852, the persons really responsible for the failure, and all the consequences of failure, are those who recede from their plighted faith, (Cheers.) The Emperor of the French was entitled to say, when one party had abandoned the treaty, "I must look at the interests of France." He did look at that, and we cannot and do not blame him for the resolution which he took. Although we freely and frankly admit that the peculiar positron of Russia with reference to Prussia some what impairs her independence and dignity, and the strength of her position in all European questions where the German Powers are concerned, yet we do not accept_it as a matter of charge or blame imputable to us that we made a serious effort to rally the Po veers of Europe in sup port of the treaty of 1852. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that this singlehanded intervention of England in European questions is a course of proceeding which can be justified. A system has grown up of late, of which the treaty of 1852 was a notable example, where the Powers of Europe have formed themselves, as it were, into a police, fur the maintenance of the general peace, apart from all separate and selfish objects, and with the single view and purpose of putting down the wrongdoer, whoever he may be. This in one sense was the meaning of the treaty of 1852. I think that was an honourable course, that the community of interests should be recognised in the form of these great international facts and conventions, which aim at keeping pence by the use of the collective forces of the civilised world, which is the best guarantee that it can pos. sibly receive. (Hear.) Therefore let it be clearly understood that, if the right hon. gentleman were to challenge the con duct of the Government in their endeavours to enlist France and Russia for the preservation of European peace, let him say so. (Hear, hear.) We are ready to abide by the judgment of the house and of the country upon that tesue. Then, says the hon. gentleman, having got into Conference, you provided fur the integrity of Denmark by cutting off Holstein and part of Schleswig, and placing it under the tutelage of alt the Powers of Europe. There is a great deal of weight in that description; but we do not at all disguise that, after the failure of that application to France and Russia, our tone was lowered. If you find fault with the tone of my noble friend before this, my answer is, that language welch we held at first was uniform with the language of France at the some period— and that it was in contemplation of the contingency which afterwards was not realised—viz., that the Powers would find themselves in a condition to co-operate for the main tenance of the treaty, Where does the right hon. gentle man find the language of menace after the date at which we became Aware that menace could not be practically car ried into effect? lam not aware of a single word which has been ascribed to my noble friend as being likely to be construed into a menace by ,the German Pewers after we once became aware of the fact that a European com bination could no longer be relied upon in support of the treaty of 1852. The right hon. gentleman, I think, said we were right in declining to go to war single-handed: In the Conference, having found that it was impossible to give full effect to what we conceived to be the spirit of the treaty of 1852, we did the best we could for Denmark. (Cheers.) No doubt, gentlemen would have done better, but we did as well as we could, as well as France could, as well as Russia could, as well as Sweden could. As long as we can show that the proceedings which we took were proceedings of the neutral Powers who represented the public sentiment of Europe, and the impartial judgment of the world, I do not think the right hon. gentleman will succeed in driving home the deadly weapon which he has aimed at our breast. (Cheers,) The treaty of 1852 contemplated securing a com bination under the Crown of Denmark, after a new accession to the throne, of all the territories that were attached to the Crown under Frederick 11, Now the treaty of 1852 would have been perfectly satisfied by what is called a personal union. If we had advised Denmark to pursue the phantom of literal compliance with the treaty of 1852, we should have advised her to do that which she was deter mined not to do. Therefore, if the right hon. gentleman charges us with having been parties to proposing in the Conference a reduction of the Danish territory, 1 say we &el that which was not only most in accordance with the interests, but that which was also most agreeable to the wishes of Denmark, for if she could not have a virtue incorporation of the whole of Schleswig, she Wanted to have an incorporation of a portion of Schleswig. The proposal of the line of the Schlei was first made by us with the con- currence of the other neutral Powers ; and I think that proposal was more agreeable to Denmark than any other which could have betn made with the slightest hope of bind ing the German Powers. The house is aware there are ample reasons why England should not undertake what might fairly be celled the Quixotic enterprise of waging single-handed the war which offered itself to us under the circumstances. (Ministeiial cheers.) The tax upon the Eng lish energies would have been totally disproportioned to the object in view. The want of support and special interests, in the absence of positive engagements, was a matter which it was the absolute duty of the Government to consider. But if England were to make that war, and to make it with _ .• effect, it was aware that it could not be confined to Denmark only. Its limits must have been vastly extended. It must at once have gone down to the Adriatic—(eheers)—it must have become a general war in Europe. And although there might be objects which the Government might believe would be among the possible results of such a war, and which might be of great value to humanity, yet that responsibility was a responsibility from which the boldest man would shrink. (Ministerial cheers.) And then England might, more than any other nation, have found this a most deplor able position, for she might ultimately discover that the judgment she had taken of the justice of the case was a different judgment from that of the population of the Duchies themselves. (Cheers.) What British House of Commons would have sustained a Government who endea voured to thrust down the liberties of a people ? (Cheers.) The right hon. gentleman has, with marvellous adroitness, contrived to avoid every possible topic or issue involving the slightest question as to what ought or what ought not to have been our line of policy. The right hon. gentleman has put to the house a motion which I will now proceed to examine. Having met his charges, and I hope fairly challenged the judgment of the house un the subject, I hold myself tree to take my turn as a critic and a judge. (Hear, hear.) This is in many resp cts a remarkable motion. (Laughter.) It is a motion the productiou of which has been heralded, like the birth of Julius Cesar and other great men of old, by omen and prophecy. On an early day iu the session the right hon gentleman came out as a prophet and said, " We will question the foreign policy of the Government," On another day the member for Huntingdon took up the para ble of the right hon. gentleman, and at a late hour ono even ing he announced--" I give you my word you shall have a motion on the foreign policy of fhe Governtneh:," And a third solemn announcement was made, which is interesting because it proves that since the commencement of the ses sion—that is, for about five months—this motion has been in the course of incubation, and the terms of it have had the advantage of being revolved over and over again in all the brains of all the wisest gentlemen la the country, namely, those who are sitting oppoite. (Cheers and laughter.) • The right boa, gehtleman, has made a motion of which wo quite understand the meaning and purport. I will show that it is not so plain spoken as it ought to be; but still it is intended to put an end to the existence of the present Go vernment. And now perhaps the house will pardon me if I relate an anecdote. There is in a beautiful churchyard in Kent an epitaph which commemorates a lady and gentle man who were murdered by a domestic servant, and the writer of the epitaph, in his anxiety to give it a pious and Christian tone, has written that it was a very great advan tage to them, after all, to be got rid of by this summary method of proceeding, as they were freed from the incen veniences and discomforts that usually attend dissolution in the ordinary course. (Loud laughter.) When I read this it occurred to me that the right hon. gentleman was about to perform for' the Government the kind office which the domestic servant performed for the old lady and gentleman. (Renewed laughter.) But, looked at from another point of view, the right hon. gentleman has raised a purely per sonal matter. We have heard the tone of the right hon, gentleman to-day. He looked at the noble lord, and spoke of his miserable incapacity. Again, I find the memory of the right hon. gentleman a short memory, because by and e he went on to describe what had been the foreign policy of this country since the peace of 1815, and he described it as a successful policy. Did he recollect that the man whom he accused of miserable incapacity had been the main agent in conducting that policy for more than half the time which has elapsed since the peace of 1815 ? (Ministerial cheers.) What is the meaning of this motion ? It is to get us out of our places, and to let them come into them. But when that issue is raised without reference to policy, it is a dis agreeable motion for discussion by those who still have clinging to them any remains of the modesty of their youth. The right hon. gentleman, however, has no such difficulty. (Laughter.) He has applied to us the term "miserable incapacity." Several Hoer. MEMBERS —He said "intense incapacity." Mr. DISRAELI—What I said was "utter incapacity." (Opposition cheers.) The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—WeII, utter incapacity, intense, or miserable, or whatever it may be, he at all events challenges a comparison with those who may succeed them. He says, "By your gross mismanage ment you have offended all your allies," (Opposition cheers, and counter-cheers from the Ministerial benches.) He seems to think that that is true because we have failed in averting a war. The right lion. gentleman might have a little compassion from a recollection of ins own career. (Laughter.) There was a war when he was a Minister, which the then Foreign Secretary, Lord Malmesbury, did net succeed in staving off. On the 18th of April, 1859, the right hon. gentleman told us that he was well satisfied there would be no war ; but on the 22d the Austrians commenced the war. (Ministerial cheers.) I appeal to the memory of their own transactions as a justification of what was done in the case of Denmark. In point of fact, the motion means this : " Let the noble lord and his colleagues get out of the way, and let us get in, and then everybody will be well-behaved, and all will go on smoothly." It reminds me of the appearance of 2Eneas amongst the shades of the old Greek heroes, when they began to run away from him : "At Danaum proceres, A gamemnonicasque phalanges, Ut videre virum, fulgentiaque arma per umbras, Ingenti trepidare metu ; paro vertere terga." (Laughter.) Then the right hon. gentleman gets on the high horse, and refuses to give us the slightest idea of his policy, beaause that, he says, would be accepting office on conditions. (Cheers.) He has contrived a motion which is full of animosity and poison towards the life of the G )vern ment ; but look at it as a declaration bearing on the public policy, and it is pale and colourless as a ghost. The chief allegation is that the just influence of England has been lowered. Now let me deal with that. In the first place I deny it; and in the second place I hold that, if it were, it is not a seemly declaration to be recorded by Parliament. (Loud Ministerial cheers.) Why is the just influence of England said to have been lowered ? Is it because we have failed in averting war ? It there has been a failure there have also been honest, upright, generous efforts made to prevent great masses of mankind from injuring and destroy ing one another. (Cheers.) Ministers who in vain endea your to calm troubled waters may at the time reap no other reward than in resentment and disapprobation; but yet the recollection will abide that the voice of England was raised for moderation and justice. (Cheers.) The effort of the Go vernment was to teach wisdom to those who were obstinate, and mercy to those who were tyrannous and strong. It is said that this case is without parallel, Let me, however, go back to the case of Mr Canning. Never was there a more conspicuous failure, so far as the judgment of the moment was concerned, than that of Mr Canning in the case of the invasion of Spain by France, but there is no more honour able chapter in the whole history of the foreign policy of England. (Ministerial cheers.) Let us therefore look a little beyond the present moment, and let us discard if we can the Epicurean temper which is so strong in its vision of those things which lie near, but is blind as a bat to everything that pertains to the future. I repeat that I do not believe the just influence of this coun try has been lowered. (Cheers.) By whom is that Lan guage held ? Why, by a certain portion of the foreign cress ; and when I read the motion of the right hon. gen tleman, it seems to me to be an echo, and nothing better than an echo, of the almost ribald language of a few obscure journals on the continent. (Ministerial cheers.) It is from them that this intending Minister draws his inspiration; it is from that quarter that the lessons of English policy are to be learned. I have denied that the just influence of Eng land has been lost, and, as far as my knowledge goes, this is the first occasion on which the British House of Commons has been called upon to record, for the purpose of displacing a Government, the degradation of their country. (Loud cheers.) Why cannot the right hon. gentleman speak plainly ? Why cannot he adopt the language used by our forefathers on these occasions, and move an address to the Crown that the Government did not deserve the confidence of the house ? The right hon. gen tleman was afraid to raise that issue. He did not dare even now to resort to the old and constitutional form of a vote of want of confidence. And because he was not bold he thought he was wise. (Laughter.) All I can say is that the right hon. gentleman has never so poisoned the mines of any combination of gentlemen in this house as to induce them to place on record that which must be regarded as dis honourable to their country. Go back to the times of Sir Robert Walpole, of Lord North, and of Mr. Fox, and never will 'you find a sterile, jejune affair like this proposed to the House of Commons. Whatever was then raised by the Opposition was spoken outright in the good old Eng lish manner. (Cheers.) I think I have now detained the house long enough. I have endeavoured to avoid lead ing them into the almost innumerable phases of this long correspondence, and I have followed the right hon. gentle man on every point he chose to submit. And Ido not know that there is any portion of it which he might have com mented upon, where it would not have been equally practicable to follow him. Whatever may be his argu ments, I aria confident that the house will not be led astray by the motion. Let him, if he pleases, shelter himself under the irresponsibility of Opposition; but that doctrine will not bear being pushed to extremes, and never has it been pushed to such an extreme as it has been to night by the right hon. gentleman. In vain does the right hon. gentleman say, " You must place me on that bench, and then let me tell you what I propose to do." Ido not think the country will consent to a change on these condi tions. Nay, more, I feel the most confident conviction that the house and the country will approve of the course taken in these difficult negotiations by her Majesty's Govern ment I and that the house will reject a motion which both prudence and patriotism emphatically reject. (The right hon. gentleman was loudly cheered as he resumed his seat.) Mr NE WDEGATE moved, by way of amendment; to substitute for the second paragraph in Mr Disraeli's motion the following words :—" To submit to her Majesty the opi nion of this house, that the independence of Denmark and the possessions of that kingdom, on the terms proposed by the representatives of the neutral Powers in the recent Conference, ought to be guaranteed," He was not prepared to admit that this country stood degraded before the world, although there would be no doubt that, by the confession of the Government, she was isolated from her allies on the question of Denmark. Ho moved his amendment to the resolution, because the right hon. gentleman had disavowed on his own part any intention, had he been in office, of in terfering in defence of the Danish monarchy; and if that would have been the right hon, gentleman's policy the house was right in continuing its confidence to her Majesty's Go vernment. He by no means intended to advocate war; and the object of his amendment was that the house should de clare its readiness to co-operate with our allies before the evils ensued which Lord Palmerston recently foreshadowed, the bombardment of Copenhagen and the capture of the King, events which seemed to be not far distant, judging by the violent conduct of the German Powers. The amendment having been seconded by Mr. GORE. LANGTON, Mr. KINGLAKE objected to the amendment, that inas much as the disputed territory north of the Schlei was now in possession of the German forces, to propose to guarantee that territory was simply to propose war, and create a lia. bility to war to all time. In the decieon at which the Government had arrived he entirely concurred ; and with regard to the house he contended that there had been a long acquiescence on its part in the foreign policy of the Q. vernment up to the very period at which Mr. Disraeli hp-' given notice of his motion. General PEEL, whilst disclaiming all 127 party considers :Ort to tions, gave his moat co r di a l su ' the motion. Th e .`acs they throw ov er th e R eform Ministry, he said, eve r Bill upon their for e i gn policy and the , soh,i y popularity had of existed the Premier ; but the only result was that the Foreign Secrotary had ended everybOdy, and shown that he had one policy for the weak and another for the strong. The J'rinse Minister had stigmatis2d the invasion of Jutland as an outrage upon the independence of Den mark. There was a time when a declaration like that would have been looked upon by all foreign Powers as bind ing as if it had bsen delivered by the most despotic monarch. This war of words was neither safe nor honour able. If the policy of the country was to be peace at uny price, silence and non-interference would have become us better. Uwe wepa too rich to be drawn into war by any amount of Provocation, it would be best to say so at once; but what would be said of a man who declined to defend his honour because ne was too rich to be shot at ? If thip, were the language held by England we should indeed de- VO t 9 be called a Atttion, of shopkeepers; but the 0149 p. keepers of the last generation knew how to defend their honour, and he himself was proud to have sprung from such a race. He regretted to say her Majesty's Govern ment had done re thing to maintain the honour and renown of England in a critical conjuncture, On the contrary, they had made her the open scorn of her enemies and the shame and derision of surrounding nations. The LORD ADVOCATE maintained that there was no ground whatever for the censure which the resolutions implied upon the Government. He argued that they had not held out delusive promises to Denmark, but from first to last that their language had been of a totally different description. To Germany they had not addressed menades, but language that was suited to the occasion. Whatever the expectations encouraged or warnings given, the Go vernment had shown that theywere ready to act up to them. Under all circumstances, Ministers were perfectly right in not going to war ; and he thought they were entitled to look back upon the past with the feeling that they had done their duty. Lord STANLEY said that the learned lord had taunted General Peel with inconsistency in denouncing treaties of guarantees, while he had been a party to the treaty of 1852. But, in the first place, Gen. Peel was not a member of the Cabinet of Lord Derby, by which that treaty was concluded ; in the next place, it was not a treaty of guarantee; and in the third place, all the negotiations which led to it were conducted by Lord Palmerston. He denied that the resolu tion was a war resolution. The right hon. gentlemen the member for Bucks had distinctly told the House that if he had been in office he would have pursued the course taken by France. and told Denmark from the first that she had nothing to hope for from us in the way of material assist ance. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had condemned severely the terms of the resolution. He was very anxious that, instead of it, the Opposition should have proposed a vote of censure, No doubt that would have been very convenient for the Government, because then, when hard pressed on one subject, they could have fallen back upon another. But he could see no reason why, if the Opposition thought that foreign affairs had been badly managed they should not say so. The resolution meant that they thought the Government had blundered their negotiations from beginning to end, and that they asked the House to say so. Then the Chancellor of the Exchequer charged the Opposition with striking at the Government through the bosom of the coun try, and trading upon the humiliation of the country, (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman had remarked that the language of the resolution was unprecedented. (Hear, hear.) He (Lord Stanley) had not come down to the house with a bundle of precedents to show what had taken place on former occasions of this kind, but he very much questioned whether the language of the resolution, and the speech of the right hon. gentleman (Mr Disraeli) were not mild and moderate compared with what had before been used in that house in 1763, 1782, 1795, and 1796. Whatever the resolution might be, it was not a resolution in favour of a policy of drifting into war. If it were, he could only say for himself, and he believed for many sitting on the same side of the house, that no reasons would induce them to support it. He should at once declare that to engage in a European war for the sake of the Duchies would be an act not of impolicy, but of insanity. He thought that a policy of peace was compatible with being respected and honoured in Europe, and that we might have enjoyed such a position if we had taken the precaution of saying to Denmark that we would give her moral support, but that we would not go any further. What he complained of was, the total want of policy on the part of the Government. He did not believe there had been at any time a deliberate determination to adopt a policy either of war or peace, He did not profess to fear that we should drift into war as in 1853, for he believed that the common sense of the country would be too strong for diplomatists who were disposed to do so. Still, it was quite possible that such a policy might be adopted that we must either support it with war or retire from it with dis • credit. (Hear, hear, from the Opposition.) This was the state of things with which the resolution of his right hon. friend professed to deal ; and he thought that his right hon. friend was justified in making the protest which he had. (Cheers.) If an appeal was made from the decision of this house to the country, their (the Conservative) side of the house would face the appeal without fear. (Loud cheers from the Opposition.) He did not think that gentlemen on the other side would have much to go to the country upon, except that France had been snubbed, that Germany had been insulted, that Denmark had been abandoned, and Poland encouraged to revolt. (Loud cheers.) Mr Cobden and Mr Roebuck both rose at the same mo ment, but there were loud cries of t ` Adjourn, adjourn," and "No, no." After a brief interval, Mr COBDEN moved the adjournment of the debate un til to-morrow (Tuesday), which was carried, and the majo rity of the members present at once left the house. The house then adjourned at 20 minutes past one. COUNTRY MARKETS. COLCHESTER —JULY 2. At this corn exchange to-day there was a small show of wheat, and in the few sales made former prices were about realised. Spring corn unaltered. Wheat, white. ...... 42s 46s Beans,lTazagan..2BB 329 red ........38s 42s middle & smah.32B 369 Barley ...... 32s 38s Peas, s white ...... 358 38 Oats ;. 20s 25s grey....., 348 36s NORTHAMPTON—JuLY 2. About the usual show of wheat to-day, and the demand good, last week's rates being slightly higher. Not much doing in barley. Oats and beans scarce, and is to 20 up. —White wheat, new, .338 to 425; new red, 38s to 41s; old. 38s to 40s per qr. Barley, new malting, 348 to 36s— grinding, 26s to 33s per qr. Oats, 19s to 30s per 24 ston.e. Beans, 345 to 3&. Peas, 32s t o 36s per qr. GLOUCESTER--JULY 2. There was a fair attendanie of farmers at market to-day, witn a small supply of English wheat, which sold freely at the prices of last week. Foreign wheat in extremely limited demand, with no alteration in value. Spring curia firm, and a fair business doing. CHELMSFORD—JrLT 1, We had a fair show of wheat on offer at this market to-day, and the trade showed about the same briskness as last week. Wheat, old white 30s 45s Peas, partridge-...36s 380 new 438 478 White .......... 30s 345 old red 345 37s Boiling. ......... 383 42s new 36s 408 thin .......... 31s 35s Barley 25s 33s Ditto new ......—s —a Chevalier .. 26s 36s Beans, Tick, fild ..348 36s Grinding ..20s 28s Mal t . ... 61 s 67s narrow new., ---8 ..-8 Ticks ..34 s 36 s Chevalier ... 6 48 68 s new ..—s —s Oats 20 s 26s Mazagan .. •.... 28a 336 ~. KIRKCALDY GRAIN—JuLy 2. We had good supplies of wheat at market, but small of barley and oats. Wheat sold slowly at the prices of last week, and oats were 6d per qr up. No change in barley. Wheat. Barley s . Oats. First....36 s Od —6d I 188 Od Second ..38s lOd — a Od 19 Od Third....4N Od sOd 21 a a Od COAL MAKK ET. Prior of Coal per To at the close 01 the market. Walkers. d. Primrose .. 13 6 Wylam ............ .... 16 raufield Moor Bute ..13 6 Byass's Bebside West Hart1ey.....,.. ...16 9 %swell Walls End. 18 6 H augh Hall 17 3 . . ... l7 South l7 3 Hartlepool .........,,18 0 Eastt Hartlepool 18 3 Souh H artlepool 17 3 18Hatton 6 Camp ........ . l7 3 )t, 64 ; sold, 49. Walls End. Hatton ..............16 6 Tunatall . ......... ..16 6 Caradoc ............,17 6 Ships at marke CRYSTAL PALACE, MON DAY.. --ONE S HILLING DAY.—Admi ss i ons on payment, ,0 899 ; ditto by season tickets, 1,200. T ota l visitors 9,299. [ADVERTISEM , ENT,]-11lloway's Pills —Weak Stomach, —The wisest cannot enumerate one quarter of s symptoms arising from enfeebled digestion,a ll of which might be readily dispelled by these admirable Pills. They remove all unpleasant tastes from the mouth, flatulency and constipation. Holloway's Pills rouse the stomach, liver, and every other organ, helping digestion to that healthy tone which fully enables it to convert all we eat and drink to the nourishment of our bodies. Hence these Pills aro the surest strengtheners, and the safest r estoratives in ner— vousness, wasting., and chronic debility. Holloway Pills , are infallible remedies for impaired appeiite eructations, and a multitude of other disagreeable symptoms ' which render miserable the lives of thousands. These Pills are, approved by all elastics. Births. DAvlns , --On the 3d inst., son. the Wife of Li eut. . Col. Daviea, Grenadi er Guards, of a MACCLESFIELD --On the let inst., at 94, E aton-square. the et,llU tebs of Macclesfield, of a son. MONTOOMERIE n the 3d inst., at Westwood House, SYdenhatn, the wife of Hugh Edruonstone Moutgorneriey Esq., of a daughter. Marriages, Cottuz—RNo,-.K.-012 the 2d inst., at Lewisham Church, ALtior C. H. Cobbe, to Louisa; youngest daughter of the la '' John Knox, Esq., of Greenwich. LANGFORD—MozLEr.—On the 2d inst., at St. Michael's, Chester-square, William the only son of Lieut.- thefor late H E Ld.S., to Grace, only daughter of Rev. Thomas Mozley, ► ot Einchampstead, Berke. Deaths. Cox.—On th e I s t i nst., at Monkstown, co. D u b lin, Colonel Sir Wm. Cox, K.T.S ., aged 87, DAY.—On the 2d inst., Rev. J. D . D ay, aged 54. at the *Vicar age, Ellesmer e , fl air DALTON.—On the Ist inst. Dalton,. Esq , o f Slettingford-park 'York shire, and Fillinghans Castle, Lincoln s hi re. aged' 80, DALTON. --At New Zealand , son of W m . Dalton, P John D o l ph i n Dalton, eldes GATES. —O n t h a 3d inst. R.Ct .S., Chelt en h am , aged 30. Gates, E sq . , aged 84, ,at India-row, Poplar, Jame/ WELSEY.— On the 62. I st inst.-, W. N. Welsby WHEELER —O n t , Esq., aged Birmingham,he let inst.,Edward Wh ee l er, Esq., of. London: Frit:zed and Prtynehed by WILLIA citrxS,, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at Tun Sun °Mee No. 11; Strand, 4 the Precinct of the 3avoyoll the Cowl of Pilid*M.—Tueoclay, July Oi 180 i. 8. cf.